'Shining' sequel happening, Stephen King says

Stephen King says psychics and vampires will be the center of new book.

Kathy Hutchins Photography/Newscom

Stephen King says a 'Shining' sequel is in the works.

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September 28, 2011

By Kofi OutlawScreen Rant

At first glance you might think that we’re now running mock stories. Sorry, no such luck.

Instead, long-standing speculation has now given way to fact: Stephen King is writing a sequel novel to The Shining- more to the point, he has some of saidsequel already written, he recently read some it, and we have video of his reading.

The sequel will be called Dr. Sleep, and it will follow The Shining‘s young protagonist, Danny, 30 years after the incident at the Overlook Hotel. Danny now uses his psychic powers to literally ease the minds of terminally-ill patients in hospice care. Things get twisted when vampires show up - most likely viewing the the place as the perfect buffet, if we had to guess - and Psychic vs. Vampire battle ensues?

By now, most people are familiar with the aggravation that comes with learning about another unnecessary movie sequel - it’s kind of new to feel that aggravation about a novel, but that sentiment is already out there and swelling. It will be hard to convince a lot of people that The Shining needs a continuation -let alone that words ’The Shining’ and ‘vampires’ even belong in the same sentence. Here at Screen Rant, we’re already nervous about a possible (semi-)sequel to Stanley Kubrick’s classic 1980 film adaptation of The Shining, as we’re sure a lot of other movie fans are as well.

Sure, Pet Sematary II and Lawnmower Man 2: Beyond Cyberspace have their fair share of fans - but typically speaking, movies sequels spun out of Stephen King stories don’t have a good track record. Would the result be different since King himself is crafting this new tale? Maybe the acclaimed author has a sweet twist that will make this another great story in his litany of great stories - but in our opinion, it’ll have to be one hell of a trick.

The idea of psychics battling vampires has been done (see: Brian Lumley’s expansive Necroscope series) - however, listening to the passage King read, it’s clear that Dr. Sleep has some heavy Americana themes (Medicare, RV people, American roadways), possibly serving as some sort of social allegory in similar fashion to how The Shining examined themes like family dynamic and addiction. If that’s the case, one can only speculate about the possible implications of the title (on the one hand, an obvious reference to Danny’s character, but beyond that…?).

How do you feel about a sequel to The Shining? What about a possible movie sequel? Let us know in the comments.